Notables
- No. 3 Stanford heads across the country to Raleigh, N.C., to take on its conference foes at the 2026 ACC Championship, held on Lake Wheeler, May 15-16.
- Racing is split into two days of action: Friday's heat racing seeds boats for Saturday's finals, which gives teams a chance to accumulate points toward the team title. All racing can be watched on ACCNX, with live results found on RegattaTiming.
- Stanford earned the top pre-race seed in all racing categories and will race in Heat 1, Lane 6, for all preliminary races on Friday.
- Racing schedule (opponents in order of lanes 5-1, left to right):
- Friday
- 5:05 a.m. PT: 3V8 Heat 1- vs. Syracuse, Virginia, Notre Dame, Boston College, Clemson
- 5:30 a.m. PT: 1V8 Heat 1- vs. Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina, SMU, Boston College
- 5:55 a.m. PT: 2V8 Heat 1- vs. Syracuse, Miami, SMU, Clemson, Boston College
- 6:20 a.m. PT: 1V4 Heat 1- vs. Duke, Syracuse, SMU, Notre Dame, Boston College
- 6:45 a.m. PT: 2V4 Heat 1- vs. Syracuse, Miami, Notre Dame, SMU, Boston College
- Saturday
- 5:05 a.m. PT: 3V8 Petite Final
- 5:15 a.m. PT: 3V8 Grand Final
- 5:30 a.m. PT: 2V4 Petite Final
- 5:45 a.m. PT: 2V4 Grand Final
- 5:55 a.m. PT: 1V4 Petite Final
- 6:05 a.m. PT: 1V4 Grand Final
- 6:20 a.m. PT: 2V8 Petite Final
- 6:30 a.m. PT: 2V8 Grand Final
- 6:45 a.m. PT: 1V8 Petite Final
- 6:55 a.m. PT: 1V8 Grand Final
- Friday
- ACC Championship Scoring Information
ACC Team Champion determined by total points won, while NCAA Automatic Qualifier determined by the highest number of points in NCAA events only (First Varsity Eight, Second Varsity Eight, First Varsity Four)
Place
First Varsity Eight
Second Varsity Eight
First Varsity Four
Third Varsity Eight
Second Varsity Four
First
48
36
24
12
12
Second
44
33
22
11
11
Third
40
30
20
10
10
Fourth
36
27
18
9
9
Fifth
32
24
16
8
8
Sixth
28
21
14
7
7
Seventh
24
18
12
6
6
Eighth
20
15
10
5
5
Ninth
16
12
8
4
4
Tenth
12
9
6
3
3
Eleventh
8
6
4
2
2
Twelfth
4
3
2
1
1
- Last Time Out: No. 2 Stanford defeated No. 6 California on May 2 at the annual Big Row at Redwood Shores, sweeping all six boats in its final regular-season event. The Cardinal started strong and never looked back, defeating the Golden Bears in the second varsity four by a 22-second margin. Stanford’s first varsity four continued the Cardinal’s winning ways as Stanford (7:30.3) posted a faster time than California (7:46.4). Stanford continued to cruise in the third varsity eight race with a 16-second win over California. The second varsity eights held the largest margin of victory at 18.3 seconds. Stanford’s varsity eight closed out the morning with an 11-second win, while the Cardinal’s final race saw a one-second victory over the Golden Bears in the third varsity four, securing the sweep of California.
- Battle with the Longhorns: No. 1 Stanford impressed on April 25, taking down No. 2 Texas in three of four races on its home course at Redwood Shores. Stanford opened the day with a 12-second margin of victory in the second varsity four contest, followed by a win in the varsity four race, in which the Cardinal crossed the finish line seven-tenths of a second ahead of the Longhorns. In the second varsity eight, Stanford secured the largest margin of victory among NCAA championship races, defeating the Texas boat by 3.9 seconds. Texas claimed its lone victory of the day in the first varsity eight, crossing the line 2.9 seconds ahead of Stanford.
- Big Ten Invite Recap: No. 1 Stanford dominated competition at the 2026 Big Ten Invitational, securing first place in all but one NCAA Championships boat race over the two-day event at the Sacramento State Aquatic Center. The Cardinal three times Saturday morning, first facing No. 17 Michigan, USC, Gonzaga, and Iowa. Michigan’s win in the first varsity four (1V4) was the Cardinal’s only defeat in the NCAA Championships events over the weekend. Stanford went on to sweep its other two Saturday morning races, highlighted by a nearly 10-second victory over Michigan in the second varsity eight (2V8) and an eight-second margin in the first varsity eight (1V8). Racing continued Saturday afternoon, with Stanford outpacing No. 12 Rutgers, No. 23 Indiana, Oregon State, and Iowa. The Cardinal notched a second-place finish in the third varsity four (3V4), but captured victories in the second varsity four (2V4), 1V4, 2V8, and 1V8. Notably, Stanford took the 2V4 in 7:10.527, just over half a second ahead of Rutgers, and claimed the 1V4 by nearly 13 seconds. The Cardinal added decisive margins in the 2V8 and 1V8, winning both races by at least 10 seconds. Stanford closed out the regatta with Sunday morning races against No. 5 Washington, No. 9 California, No. 12 Rutgers, and No. 17 Michigan. The Cardinal swept all three NCAA Championships races, including avenging Saturday's 1V4 loss with a win over Washington by more than two seconds. Additional highlights included a six-second victory in the 2V8, a nearly three-second margin over California in the 1V8, and a decisive 10-second win over Washington in the 2V4 race.
- Spring Racing Opener: No. 1 Stanford commanded No. 4 Tennessee in its first taste of action this spring, sweeping the Volunteers in five races on Melton Hill Lake on Saturday morning. Stanford’s third varsity eight kicked off racing with an almost eight-second margin of victory over Tennessee’s boat, followed by the Cardinal’s second varsity four boat clocking a little over one-second win over the Volunteers’ lineup. The Cardinal then took on the Volunteers in the first varsity four race, earning its largest victory of the day, crossing the finish line nearly 17 seconds ahead of Tennessee’s boat. Stanford's second varsity eight extended the winning streak with an almost nine-second margin of victory before the varsity eight closed out the morning, with the Cardinal crossing the finish line nearly four seconds ahead of the Volunteers.
- Offseason Accolades: Stanford's highly anticipated racing debut in 2026 was highlighted in the sport's out-of-season accolades. The Cardinal was picked to finish first in the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association's annual pre-racing poll with 22 of 25 possible first-place votes. Stanford's freshman Emma Bagrie was named to the Atlantic Coast Conference's (ACC) 2026 Preseason ACC Rowing Watch List, while senior Alice Baker and juniors Célia Dupré, Madeleine Greenstock, and Honor Warburg were honored by the CRCA as 2026 Athletes to Watch.
- 2024-25 Year in Review: Stanford women’s rowing regained its spot at the top of the collegiate rowing world in 2025, winning its fourth consecutive conference title, the first as a member of the ACC, and the program’s third NCAA team title guided by individual national championships from the varsity four and second varsity eight boats.
- A Bit About Byrnes: Derek Byrnes enters his tenth season as Stanford’s Farwell Family Director of Women’s Rowing in 2025-26. Byrnes has led the Cardinal to two NCAA team titles (2023 and 2025) and eight top-six finishes in his first nine seasons at the helm of the program (2020 championship canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic).
- Lucky 13: The Cardinal has some new faces on The Farm for the 2025-26 season: Fiona Asgeirsson (Rye, N.Y.), Emma Bagrie (Wellington, New Zealand), Lexi Gormley (Margate City, N.J.), Liz Hicks (Washington, D.C.), Sumner Kerr (Richmond, Va.), Leni Koetitz (Gross Koeris, Brandenburg, Germany), Barbara McMahon (Margate City, N.J.), Lia Nathan (Washington, D.C.), Nava Ruthfield (Seattle, Wash.), Yaara Ronen (Nyack, N.J.), Emily Tierney (Panther Valley, N.J.), Astrid Thomas (Brisbane, Australia), and Claire Van Praagh (New York, N.Y.).
- Next Up: Stanford awaits its selection to the 2026 NCAA Championship Regatta, held at Lake Lanier Olympic Park in Gainesville, Ga. Twenty-two teams will qualify for the competition, with automatic bids awarded to conference champions from 10 conferences (Atlantic-10, ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Coastal Athletic Association, Ivy League, MAAC, Mid-American, Patriot League, West Coast Conference) and 12 at-large selections made by the NCAA Division I Rowing Committee. The selection show for the annual championship event is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19 at 2 p.m. PT on NCAA.com.